Bush Calls For Offshore Oil Drilling

February 21, 1991|By WILLIAM E. GIBSON, Washington Bureau Chief

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration unveiled a national energy strategy on Wednesday that calls for more offshore oil drilling in coastal areas, including Florida`s Panhandle, as part of a sweeping plan to reduce U.S. dependence on fuel supplies from the Middle East.

``Over the next two decades, this strategy will make us more energy-efficient without new energy taxes,`` President Bush said, ``and it will mean savings for consumers in energy costs, and it will improve our energy security and reduce our vulnerability in the years ahead.``

But even before its release, the strategy set off a wave of angry reaction from environmentalists, who said it does not do enough to foster conservation. The strategy relies on economic incentives to encourage rather than force more efficient use of energy.

Critics accused the administration of serving the profit motives of nuclear and oil industry interests at the expense of consumers and the environment.

The offshore oil plan in particular renewed some longstanding fears on the part of Florida members of Congress and environmentalists. They said rigs, pipelines and oil-laden barges would jeopardize the state`s fragile eco- system, its beachfronts and waterways.

Though not specifically designated in the strategy document, the affected offshore areas are expected to include tracts within 10 miles of the Florida Panhandle coastline.

The plan, which has no force of law, does not affect an existing moratorium on oil drilling off the South Florida coast. Environmentalists, however, say the Panhandle tracts that are affected are linked by tides and currents to much of the rest of the state`s coastline.

The strategy, outlined in a slick 217-page booklet, calls for increased fossil-fuel and nuclear energy production along with tax incentives to encourage conservation. The administration rejected the idea of regulations to require greater fuel efficiency in new cars.

Scorning the critics, Energy Secretary James Watkins said the plan would preserve the American lifestyle, keep fuel prices low, avoid tax increases and generate revenue to pay for development of alternative energy sources.

Environmental organizations had hoped that conservation would be the cornerstone of the administration strategy. They accused the White House -- in particular John Sununu, chief of staff and a nuclear energy advocate -- of blocking attempts to impose fuel-efficiency rules and to encourage development of solar and other renewable energy sources.

``We`re very disappointed that he (Bush) focuses almost exclusively on oil drilling and nuclear power and really ignores other options that not only would be much safer but more effective,`` said Ann Whitfield, director of Florida Public Interest Research Group, an independent advocacy group based in Tallahassee.

Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., said he also was disappointed because the plan ``overemphasizes increases in domestic production and underemphasizes conservation.``

Graham, previously as governor and now as senator, has led Florida`s solid opposition to oil exploration off the state`s coastline. That effort prompted Bush last year to impose a moratorium on oil drilling in some sensitive portions of the outer continental shelf off the South Florida coast.

The new strategy document makes no specific reference to Florida, but it encourages domestic production including ``certain areas of the outer continental shelf.``

Watkins said on Wednesday that those tracts would be outside the areas that Bush specifically placed under the moratorium last year.

Interior Department sources and published reports disclosed that the affected tracts are off the Florida Panhandle, the Southern California coast and along the East Coast from the Carolinas to New Jersey -- all outside the areas under Bush`s moratorium.

Florida environmentalists say currents could pull a major oil slick in the northern Gulf of Mexico down the state`s west coast, around the Florida Keys and north along the southeast Florida coast.

Even routine oil drilling without mishap, they say, pollutes waterways with lubricants and minor slips and spills.

``It kills marine life, washes up on beaches, hurts the environment and the tourism economy as well,`` Whitfield said. ``And that`s just the front end. On the back end, reliance on fossil fuels in inefficient cars sends exhaust into the air, creates air pollution and global warming.``

Watkins said, however, that an increase in fossil-fuel production is necessary until alternative sources are developed.

Conservation must be combined with increased production to meet energy needs, Watkins said. ``America cannot solely conserve its way or develop its way to energy security,`` he said.

The strategy is devised to reduce reliance on foreign oil without burdening businesses with new regulations and the American people with higher taxes, officials said.

``We do not want to hurt the American people, who want that favorable price on gasoline,`` Watkins said.